Exodus 4
4
1 AND MOSES answered, But behold, they will not believe me or listen to and obey my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you.
2 And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
3 And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand,
5 [This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you.
6 The Lord said also to him, Put your hand into your bosom. He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
7 [God] said, Put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored as the rest of his flesh.
8 [Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice or the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice or the witness of the second sign.
9 But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land.
10 And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue.
11 And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.
13 And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send].
14 Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
15 You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.
16 He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.
17 And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].
18 And Moses went away and, returning to Jethro his father-in-law, said to him, Let me go back, I pray you, to my relatives in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead. [Exod. 2:11, 12.]
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on donkeys, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, When you return into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all those miracles and wonders which I have put in your hand; but I will make him stubborn and harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is My son, even My firstborn.
23 And I say to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, your firstborn.
24 Along the way at a [resting-] place, the Lord met [Moses] and sought to kill him [made him acutely and almost fatally ill].
25 [Now apparently he had failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife being opposed to it; but seeing his life in such danger] Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it to touch [Moses'] feet, and said, Surely a husband of blood you are to me!
26 When He let [Moses] alone [to recover], Zipporah said, A husband of blood are you because of the circumcision.
27 The Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mountain of God [Horeb, or Sinai] and kissed him.
28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had charged him.
29 Moses and Aaron went and gathered together [in Egypt] all the elders of the Israelites.
30 Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that He had looked [in compassion] upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
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Exodus 4: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Exodus 4
4
Signs for Moses to Do
1Moses answered, “What if the elders of Israel won’t believe me? What if they won’t listen to me? Suppose they say, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you.’ Then what should I do?”
2The Lord said to him, “What do you have in your hand?”
“A walking stick,” he said.
3The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
So Moses threw it on the ground. It turned into a snake. He ran away from it. 4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach your hand out. Take the snake by the tail.” So he reached out and grabbed the snake. It turned back into a walking stick in his hand. 5The Lord said, “When they see this sign, they will believe that I appeared to you. I am the Lord, the God of their fathers. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.”
6Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, the skin had become as white as snow. His hand was covered with a skin disease.
7“Now put it back into your coat,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back into his coat. When he took it out, the skin was healthy again. His hand was like the rest of his skin.
8Then the Lord said, “Suppose they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign. Then maybe they will believe the second one. 9But suppose they do not believe either sign. Suppose they will not listen to you. Then get some water from the Nile River. Pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will turn into blood on the ground.”
10Moses spoke to the Lord. He said, “Lord, I’ve never been a good speaker. And I haven’t gotten any better since you spoke to me. I don’t speak very well at all.”
11The Lord said to him, “Who makes human beings able to talk? Who makes them unable to hear or speak? Who makes them able to see? Who makes them blind? It is I, the Lord. 12Now go. I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say.”
13But Moses said, “Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
14Then the Lord became very angry with Moses. He said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you. He will be glad to see you. 15Speak to him. Tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak. I will teach you what to do. 16He will speak to the people for you. He will be like your mouth. And you will be like God to him. 17But take this walking stick in your hand. You will be able to do signs with it.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. He said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt. I want to see if any of them are still alive.”
Jethro said, “Go. I hope everything goes well with you.”
19The Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt. All those who wanted to kill you are dead.” 20So Moses got his wife and sons. He put them on a donkey. Together they started back to Egypt. And he took the walking stick in his hand. It was the stick God would use in a powerful way.
21The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “When you return to Egypt, do all the amazing things I have given you the power to do. Do them in the sight of Pharaoh. But I will make him stubborn. He will not let the people go. 22Then say to Pharaoh, ‘The Lord says, “Israel is like an oldest son to me. 23I told you, ‘Let my son go. Then he will be able to worship me.’ But you refused to let him go. So I will kill your oldest son.” ’ ”
24On the way to Egypt, Moses stopped for the night. There the Lord met him and was about to kill him. 25But Zipporah got a knife made out of flint. She circumcised her son with it. Then she touched Moses’ feet with the skin she had cut off. “Surely, you are a husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,” she said. 26So the Lord didn’t kill Moses. When she said “husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,” she was talking about circumcision.
27The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to see Moses.” So Aaron greeted Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say. Moses also told him about all the signs the Lord had commanded him to do.
29Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of Israel together. 30Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs in the sight of the people. 31And they believed. They heard that the Lord was concerned about them. He had seen their suffering. So they bowed down and worshiped him.
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